Craig Garvey stood down by St George Illawarra dragons over alleged Wollongong assault

Updated
Fri Feb 28 19:26:40 EST 2014

Photo

Craig Garvey (left) has been implicated by witnesses in a Wollongong bar brawl.

Getty Images: Renee McKay

St George Illawarra has stood Craig Garvey down after the player allegedly assaulted a 26-year-old man in a Wollongong bar.

Garvey, who skippered the club's under-20s side last year, is accused of punching Christopher Allan "multiple times" on the dancefloor at the Hotel Illawarra on Thursday evening.

Allan was left with a cut over his left eye and told the Illawarra Mercury he was waiting to find out if he had sustained a fractured eye socket.

Police have yet to lay charges.

Allan and his friend James Stimson said they had been on the dancefloor about half an hour when a man acting aggressively approached them.

The Dragons released a statement on Friday afternoon saying Garvey had informed the club of his involvement in the incident.

"The St George-Illawarra Dragons have this afternoon determined to stand down Craig Garvey from all club activities for breaching the club's code of conduct following an internal investigation in relation to an incident in Wollongong on Thursday," the statement read.

"Craig informed the club this morning of his involvement in an incident at the Hotel Illawarra.

"The incident is subject to a police investigation, no formal charges have been laid at this point in time and as such, the club is not in a position to provide any further details.

"The NRL Integrity Unit has been informed."

An Illawarra Mercury report said the assailant, who Allan and another witness identified as 20-year-old Garvey, allegedly first pressed his head against Allan's before punching him multiple times in the face.

"I don't put my hands on someone else for no reason and I expect the same thing from other people," Allan said.

"I was having a good night up until that point and I've been dealing with it ever since, not to mention the pain I'm in. It doesn't tickle."

The situation is a distraction the club could do without with its season starting on Sunday week against Wests Tigers.

Steve Price's side have had a troubled build-up to the new season and were hammered 38-20 by South Sydney in last week's Charity Shield.

A casualty from that match was star full-back Josh Dugan, who has been ruled out for five weeks with a knee injury.

An NRL spokesman said the integrity unit would wait to find out more information from the club about the incident and see if police take any action.

The news comes just four days after NRL chief Dave Smith announced record profits of almost $50 million and claimed the game is placed to become the most played sport in the country.

Smith has made no secret of his desire to come down hard on players who break the law insisting he wants to make the game more family friendly.

Last year he stood down Blues prop James Tamou for the second State of Origin game and fined the Test star $20,000 after he was caught driving four times over the legal limit and without a licence.